Beacon, NY
How exposed is Beacon to wildfire?
USFS scores Beacon at the 46th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 4,729 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Beacon at the 45th national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Beacon's buildings actually sit
4,729 buildings are counted in Beacon, and 56% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 12.4% in Direct exposure or the 31.6% rated Minimal.
Beacon against the rest of the country
Beacon's 91st-percentile standing inside New York outpaces its 46th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Beacon ranks 16,963 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,609 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 118 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Beacon
At the 46th national percentile, Beacon rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Beacon's 56% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
Where Beacon's figures come from
Beacon's 46th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Beacon's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.